Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Christ to Liberate is Our Mission, Too


Introduction: Inaugural Addresses, the Beginning

Last week’s inaugural address reminded me of a conversation I had with a history buff who told me that every single Inaugural Address From George Washington to Barack Obama has been preserved in written and now recorded forms. And in every one of these speeches, most of which were over an hour in length, Presidents have laid out the dreams and goals and aspirations of their presidencies—they have set forth their mission for the next four years, words they intend to live by, words they intend to lead by, words to measure the effectiveness of their presidency.

George Washington spoke of the power of that Almighty Being who rules over the universe that would guide his hand and advance the character of an independent nation, and expressed his goal for a nation independent, but under God.

Abraham Lincoln, in a more difficult time in the history of our country, challenged those who would destroy the nation through secession saying “You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it.”
And so he did, even to the point of conducting a war to preserve the Union.

Franklin Roosevelt, addressing the crisis of a nation and a world in the throes of a deep economic depression, promised to endure and work to revive the nation reminding us that the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.

And, notably, as America reached the status of the world’s great power, John Kennedy invited us to take on the role of leadership in defending freedom, challenging us to ask not what your country can do for us, but what we can do for our country. And to the world, ask not what America can do for you but what together we can do for the freedom of mankind.

At every turn in the progress of this democratic republic presidents have sought to lay out a mission in their inaugural addresses so that we may have some idea where we may be going and what is expected of us.

The Book of Proverbs states that “without a vision, the people will perish," so having some kind of vision is important for leading a good and effective life. Presidents and people, businesses and social groups, families and churches need words to live by, an inaugural address to set forth their goals and to measure their work along the path to meeting those goals in a hope-filled, persistent manner.

We have something like an inaugural address in this morning’s Gospel. No, Jesus hasn’t been elected president of Israel, but the people gathered in Nazareth are expecting something from Jesus. They know that something different has been happening in the lives of the surrounding communities and there was a buzz about who Jesus was and whether He might be the Messiah. Reports about Jesus had spread throughout the region of the Galilee. Reports about His baptism and the voice from heaven; reports about his teaching in other synagogues and other towns; perhaps reports about the wedding feast in Cana just down the road from Nazareth. Could Jesus be the Messiah that they had been expecting for so long? Could Jesus be God’s chosen now that he was all grown up, the one who would free them?

You see the Hebrews had been expecting a Savior for as long as they’d been a people they longed for God to save them and restore them and Nazareth was a community, according to scholars, where there was a special emphasis paid to waiting, praying for the Messiah to come. And there seemed to be two forms of this expectation; One, would be that the Messiah would be a great king who would throw out the foreign powers, in this case Rome, who would restore the fortunes of Israel; and would establish justice and peace throughout a physical kingdom. The other expectation was that the Messiah would restore the people to God, would live life in direct contact with God, sinless, in God’s will at all times,
and would show the people the ways of God and the way to God, whether there was a physical kingdom or not. Jesus has the power to become either one of these Messiahs and it’s in today’s Gospel, that He reveals what kind of Messiah He has grown up to be, what we might expect from His Lordship in our lives, and the kinds of lives He may be calling us to live.

In some sense, Jesus gives an inaugural address in the synagogue at Nazareth, outlining His platform
and telling the people what they can expect from His administration. Jesus stands and takes the Isaiah scroll and reads,  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; sent me to proclaim release to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Jesus will not be the great king who wields a sword to establish a kingdom on earth, but will be the one who uses the knowledge of God’s love for Him and all the power in the universe in order to liberate all who are in physical and spiritual bondage. He will be the one who shows the way of God and the way to God. Jesus will be a liberator
and all the miracles He performs to heal and restore and bring people back from the dead, all the teachings and stories provide a pathway for people to wake up to our lives and to God’s presence, as well as to be free so that we may become the persons God made us to be.

Jesus is a liberator and at the end of his earthly ministry, as He hangs on the cross Jesus liberates us from our sins and the power they hold over us by taking them on Himself.  And when He rises again on Easter morning, He frees us from the bonds and the fear of death so that we are free indeed, to grow up to become who God made us to be.

Unlike so many of our presidents and other leaders over the course of time, Jesus’ inaugural address is one that He actually fulfills by the way He lived, by the life He gives, and His purposes change lives like ours and call us to take up His purposes in our own day.

Taking Up Jesus’ Goals

Some time ago, I had a conversation with a friend about the fact that for all that Mother Teresa did and worked for all her life, when she died, there were still poor people and sick people, still people without hope in Calcutta and around the world. And that it was the same when Jesus ascended into heaven.
For all the good news Jesus brought to the poor snd all the captives that He released snd all the healings of the blind and the lame and the sick snd all the prisoners who were freed there was much more to do, there was much more to be done.

It doesn’t mean that Jesus’ life and ministry or the Mother Teresa’s life and ministry were failures in any sense; they were world changing, but it does mean that there’s more to be done. And that’s where you and I come in.  For we are called today to take up Jesus’ ministry inaugurated in Nazareth, the work he began that day and renews in you and me this day. For we, too, are loved by God and we, too, have been anointed through our Baptisms with the Holy Spirit and in that love and with that power we can be and do anything. But what God calls you and I to do and to be, what God calls us to become as we grow up, are Jesus’ hands and heart and feet, so that the work He inaugurated in Nazareth will continue today and people will be freed from their captivity.

Accept the liberation Christ offers you and each one of us. Receive the forgiveness, the healing, and the freedom from being less than God made us to be and then look around your life to find a way to use the love and the power of God working in you to free people in your own family, in our community, and in the world from the spiritual and physical struggles they face. Each of us can make a difference in Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit and that is who we can become when we are willing to grow up in the love and in the power of God and follow our Lord and His purposes.  
                             
WFA

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Finding Rest and Peace


I pray that you are well and are finding ways to enjoy this “brisk” winter weather, and I ask your prayers and support for those who are struggling in these winter months, both physically and emotionally.

This Sunday past, I preached a sermon about the sovereignty of God as it relates to our prayer life and our prayers – about how God is not our “errand boy” when it comes to asking for what we want and how God is calling us to conform to God’s will, so we pray, “thy will be done” in the Lord’s Prayer. It’s important and enlivening to try to pray with God and see that the way God answers prayers gives us better clues about what God’s will may actually be in our lives and in the lives of the world around us.

I thought it was a pretty straightforward message and might prove helpful. After the service, a long-time and faithful parishioner came up to me to talk. They stated that they really enjoyed the message and appreciated the teaching and sentiments expressed (I liked the sound of that.) Then their tone of voice turned more serious and quiet as they asked, “How do you pray like that? I mean you have a seminary education and all, so it must be easy for you. I have never known how. Can you teach us so that we can pray with God?”

My heart went out to this pillar of our community and I drew them aside and told them this secret, “It’s not up to us. It’s up to God." All we have to do and all we can do is try to come to God. He will take care of the rest. Whether you read the Bible as a way to come to God or sit quietly and seek God’s presence; whether you read prayers or say prayers out loud or sing your prayers; God will come and make Himself known to you.

In other words, if you want to be in a relationship with God and find real rest and peace and fearlessness, seek God. Come to God. Be quiet with God. Sing to God. There are any number of ways, but the critical truth is that you and I have to come to God for God to be with us. God has this “thing” about not overpowering our free wills, that’s true, but if we will seek Him in some place in our lives, He will do the rest.

So, if you’re feeling a little fearful about your life or you’d like to have a living relationship with God or if you want to deepen that relationship, come to Him. He may not make Himself known immediately, but He will draw you close and you will know Him in your life.

Grace and Peace and good Praying.
WFA

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Tie the Cat

"Be still, then, and know that I am God."
Psalm 46:11


I pray that you are well and are finding time in this new year to spend time with God. So many of us want to live the Christian life, to be connected with God, and feed our faith instead of our fears, but often, other people and activities compete for time with God. The result of not spending time with God is that our lives are less than they could be. We miss out on noticing how connected God is in our lives, and our fears grow. So this week, I invite you to "tie the cat." Here's what I mean.


A certain woman decided that she wanted to have a spiritual life. She began by setting aside fifteen minutes at the very start of the day to read the Bible and to pray. This particular woman shared her life with a very affectionate cat, who, during this time of prayer, rubbed against her and too often distracted her from her time with God. So she began her prayer time by tying the cat's collar to her bedpost so she wouldn't be distracted from her time with God.


Her son, watched his mother grow in faith, peace and understanding, and swore that when he became an adult, he too, would set aside time with God to grow in the faith. His life was a little busier than his mother's life and he could only spend ten minutes with God each morning. He began his prayer time by tying up his cat, then opening the Bible and praying. His life changed dramatically from the time he spent with God and the son grew as a Christian.


The granddaughter grew up with a faithful, praying grandmother and father and vowed that, she too, would be a person of faith. Her life, though, was so distracted and busy that she had even less time for God then her father. So, early each morning she would rise, tie up her cat, and jump in the shower to get ready for her day.


Like all relationships of value, spending time with the person or persons you love is crucial. And it's not always the quality of time we spend. More often, deep relationships form with the quantity of time we spend with the beloved. A good amount of time spent with a partner, a child, a friend, and especially with God, almost always yields a deeper love and understanding, as well as a greater sense of peace and purpose.


So, tie the cat in your life and go into your room alone to spend time with the Lord. Walk away from one of your distractions and activities that overfill your time and be still in the presence of God. Your fears will fall away and that peace that passed understanding will fill your soul and bring you closer to a life that's really life.

Grace and Peace,
WFA

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Heart Healers

"Everyone will know you are my followers, if you love one another." John 13:35


I pray that you are well want to invite you to a renewed sense of who we are and what we are about as followers of Jesus.

Everyone, including you and me, is walking around with a hole in their heart that can be filled by only one thing. Some of the holes are little. We're feeling a little lonely or left out. Something in our life didn't quite go the way we wanted it to go and we're disappointed. We're under the weather or aren't quite sure what's coming next in our lives and have a heightened sense of anxiety as opposed to peace.

Some of the holes are large. We have big holes in our hearts when we are grieving over the death of someone we love. We have large holes in our hearts when we there are troubles in our lives or in the lives of those we love. Our holes grow large when we're unemployed or underemployed or when the road ahead seems difficult and God seems somehow absent.

All of us have holes in our hearts and everyone you and I meet has some hole that is waiting to be filled with love and compassion from God and from God's followers - you and me. That's what Jesus claims to be the mark of discipleship, our love for one another.

And you know that makes a lot of sense with all of us walking around with holes in our hearts. We have an opportunity to help God fill other people's holes and hurts by showing them love and allowing God to fill the hole in our hearts by receiving love from others.

So the next time you see someone acting out or being rude or looking sullen, remember that that's the expression of the hole in their heart and find some way to offer love to them. And the next time you come to St. David's to worship or to participate in some activity or fellowship event, look for some way to love another person to help fill up their heart hole. If we will, then we will be known as Jesus' disciples and we will become heart healers and open ourselves to God healing our hearts at the same time.

Grace and Peace,
WFA

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Fearless Seeking


"Wise men from the east came asking, 'Where is the child born to be king?' Matthew 2:1

I pray that you are well and that your Christmas was both joyous and loving and that you are beginning to consider how you will be living in this new calendar year. For many of us, the New Year is a time to reconsider our lives and to make plans and resolutions about how we intend our lives to be better, richer, more fulfilling or, alternatively, more peaceful, less confusing, and more in line with the life we believe God is calling us to lead. It is both exciting and daunting to look ahead to our lives in the coming year and I have one strong word of advice: be fearless. Oh right, that's our theme for the year at St. David's Church, Fearless: Living our Lives in Hope.


Be fearless in the knowledge that God is with you and is calling you to become the person He created you to be. Be fearless in the knowledge that though you and I will certainly fall short at times and have to struggle through some difficulties. But we are not alone, God is with us. Be fearless in striving and seeking to reach beyond yourself to find new ways of living because God is ready to empower you to do just that. Be fearless in loving God and loving others. That is what we are made for and we never fail at that.


Be fearless, like the Wise Men who sought the Christ child, who sought the nearer presence of God, by setting aside their lives and seeking Him with all their heart. It's an interesting part of the Nativity Story to me, these Wise Men. For though we don't know much about them, we do know enough to say that once they set their sights on their goal, their resolution, their star, they did whatever it took to reach it. They left their lives behind. They traveled an incredible distance. They faced a ruling power who was at odds with their quest. They arrived and they found what they sought - the Christ child.


As you read through their little story in the second chapter of Matthew's Gospel, one gets the sense that they were at peace with their quest and that nothing would keep them from accomplishing it, fearlessly.

So, as we begin the New Year, I encourage you to be at peace as you set about your life and especially as you seek God's presence. Remember, God is with you and He will never leave you to seek alone!
 
Grace and Peace,
WFA